The EuroMillions Lottery

THE EUROMILLIONS LOTTERY (EUROMILLIONS)

History Of Euromillions:

The EuroMillions lotto’s inception took place in early February 2004. It was an initiative conceptualized and set up by the national lotteries of France, Spain and the United Kingdom. Initially these three countries were the only participating entities in EuroMillions; however, during October 2004 Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg, Portugal, Switzerland and the Republic of Ireland decided to commit to the draw as well.

The EuroMillions lottery (more commonly known as the Euro lotto) pools the ticket revenue from all nine participating European nations, which directly correlates to often-immense Euro lotto jackpots. With the number of countries joining the European Union, this will logically lead to new countries registering with the Euro lotto - which will result in their residents actively taking part in the draws - which will just further add to the jackpot and increase the winning bounty by even more.

Due to the establishment of online lottery ticket sales agents, you may now obtain your Euro Millions tickets via the internet - regardless of your location worldwide, which means you do not need to be a citizen of any of the participating countries. As a participant, you are required to pick five main numbers from 1-50 and two “Lucky Star” numbers from 1-12. During the draw, the five main and two Lucky Star numbers are then pulled out at random from two draw machines containing the numbered balls. The probability of netting the full EuroMillions lotto jackpot is 1 in 76 million – although the odds of winning a substantial cash prize in one of the division tiers is a reasonable 1 in 24.

The largest ever EuroMillions jackpot pool that was won to date, has been draw #510 which took place on Friday 10 August 2012. Winners Adrian and Gillian Bayford from Suffolk, England, walked away with an astonishing €190 million (£148 million). If nobody matches the drawn numbers to win the jackpot in a given week, it is automatically carried forward (“rolled over”) to the following week, which naturally results in an ever-growing jackpot prize. New regulations introduced during February 2007 capped the number of rollovers to eleven, with the jackpot rolling down to lower prize levels in the eleventh draw if the prize was not won. The new regulations also brought with it the EuroMillions “Super Draws”, which take place bi-annually and offer jackpots in the region of £100 million.

Since then the format has changed with a jackpot cap of €190 million being introduced. If the jackpot is not won after four rollovers at the jackpot cap, then the prize fund rolls down to lower prize tiers.

When to play Euromillions:

Draws occur bi-weekly; every Tuesday and Friday in Paris, France at 20h55 CET. All prizes , including the jackpot, are tax-free and are paid as a lump sum.